Ohana Means Family
by DarthSukiMomo
Summary: And then the two girls were gone, hurrying down the stretch of white sand and bright sunlight. They left Loki standing there in the shade, him and his thoughts. Ohana. Was it really that simple? The man looked down at the ground for a while, and when he finally looked back up, he rolled his eyes. Maybe it was. Maybe it was that simple.


There was nothing worse to Loki than a hot day. He hated the heat, hated dreadfully how it would cling to his skin like a material dampness, an extra skin on his body that did nothing but make everything feel filthy. Even worse, he hated sand. Oh, the horrible enemy it was to the god, sand. It spilled, soiled, and otherwise ruined everything. He had quickly understood how tricky it was, always finding it's sly way into clothes, shoes, gloves and otherwise anything else you didn't want it to be in.

Just two good reasons to greatly loath midgard. Two very good, sound reasons that he absolutely didn't want to spend an entire week of pointless work to create a growing 'peace' between Asgard and it (though Thor was the one always doing most of the work in that sense; Loki was mostly there to be the 'bad cop' of the duo, as he had so kindly muttered during a tense meeting. Nobody liked the comment much).

Though why exactly Thor had chosen for their week on Midgard to be visiting an island, filled with heat and sand in greater ammounts than snow was on Jotenheim, Loki was sure he would never truly understand. Perchance Thor had his own desires to it's odd wonder. Hawaii was regarded by most upon Midgard as a lush enviroment of wonder and awe, so with his childlike attention towards all things with big words of description, Thor seemingly had a greater love for it than his younger brother ever would carry. It wasn't as if he had much choice with anything anymore, so he learned to simply roll his eyes, growl, and go with whatever his oaf of a sibling wanted. It was easier that way.

So there he was, happily by himself, but traversing across the mass expanse of sandy beaches that the island so greatly boasted about. True, they were calm and peaceful, but it still conflicted with Loki's incredible hate of heat and sand. Both of which was in great number that very day. The sun scorched against the skin of the pale god's bare back, chest, and most especially his thin legs (damnable sun seemed to love licking it's scorching rays of light against them).

Clad in only new green, smooth swimming trunks (oh, how Tony and Clint had taken their graces with teasing him upon him wearing the damnable article earlier that day), Loki was far from being within his comfort zone. There was certainly something odd about Midgardian clothing. They dug into his hips and fell from his legs all too wrong; they didn't fit at all it seemed. Yet Thor had insisted that it was normal for it to be that way. Loki was far used to tighter leather, in all honesty, and he greatly prefered it. It was familiar, like a second skin to him. Nothing at all like the rough cloth of cotton that scratched against the inside of his thighs with every forward step he took down the expanse of white sand and warm water licking at his feet.

The ocean hung off to his left side, filling the horizon with a vase blue color that (Loki damn his cold pride to admit) was a fairly pretty sight. It sparkled and glittered with every shift of his body from one step to another. There was a distinct beauty about the ocean as he turned his face to look at it for a moment, green orbs taking in the sight with a combination of stubborn pessimissm and genuine awe. There was nothing at all like it's outreaching aqua color that he had seen before. Not on Asgard was there such a sight as the Midgardian ocean, and surely not did Loki know of a similar thing upon Jotenheim.

As interesting as the blue body of water was in his vision, Loki was suddenly broken from it when a soft sound caught his attention off to the side. He turned and peered into the brush that sepparated the sandy scape of beach from further into the island, blinking curiously when he heard the sound again.

Upon closer observation of the thin sound clashing through the leaves of the brush, Loki found himself stepping closer. The feeling of warm splashing water left his skin and was quickly replaced with abrasive sand sticking to the soles of his feet, but Loki didn't very much care on the simple annoyances of the beach any longer.

He found that the sound was a voice. Small, young even. And it was screaming.

"STITCH! YOU ARE SUCH A BIG MEANIE!" It hollared through the woods, quickly sending a few small birds to the sky with their flapping wings and soft cooes of fear. There was another quick rustle of leaves just beyond Loki's form, though he was deep enough in the shadows of the trees to know the source of the voice was close. He reache out and began pushing branches away.

"STITCH! I KNOW YOU'RE HERE!" Suddenly there was a thump on the ground, small and soft, before the bushes were being rustled all over again. Loki stood in simple curiosity right there, unsure if he should even bother going any further into the thick undergrowth with merely swimming trunks on. But before he could come up with an answer to it, a sudden flash of color took his attention away. "We were supposed to practice...our dance."

Suddenly standing in front of the norse god was a young girl. She was short, dark haired and blinking. Curiosity burned in her hazel eyes as she briefly regarded him. One swift look at Loki and her attentions were just as quickly turned, back to screaming for whatever it was she was searching for.

"STITCH! COME ON! WE HAVE DANCE PRACTIIIIICEEEEEEE!" Soon it was nothing but a loud screech bouncing within Loki's ear, and with a muted snarl he held his ears.

"Good lord child!" He hissed between clenched jaws. "What in the world possesses you to bloody the eardrums of everything within hearing distance?" For a moment the young girl didn't so much as notice Loki once more. Her small head turned left and right, pudgy tan arms merely pushing leave and branches to the side in her continuing, fruitless search of the area.

When she seemed finally sure that this 'Stitch' wasn't to be found right there, she finally turned around on the heel of her flip-flops and looked at Loki. It was as if SHE was the one demanding an explanation, her small hands pressing into her hips, making the small red dress hanging from her body sway with another soft breeze. There certainly was a nearly enveloping air of snark from her body language (Loki actually had to stop himself from smiling at how much she eerily reminded him of Stark).

"Hey you," She pointed a finger at Loki, as if trying to gain the attention from him that she already had."-you look observant," She says after a moment. Loki blinks and stares at her in turn, waiting without response. When he doesn't give a snarky remark, she raises up a hand and gestures around the area. "I'm looking for a friend of mine. Short, kinda blue and he's like, an alien."

"Excuse me?" Loki blinked. Alien? Had he heard the little Midgardian right? Weren't they normally scared or frightened of such things?

Said girl rolled her eyes and waved her hands out in front of her like it was the most obvious thing in the world, her broad sigh seeming forced and dramatic. "Well yeah, alien. But he's good. I mean, he used to be a bad alien when I met him a long time ago, but then all these things happened and now he's mostly good." Another short flailing set of gestures from her hands tried to make visual of her odd story. Loki merely blinked and crossed his arms, finally finding subtle amusement with the girl.

"...Well, I can assure you I have seen nothing of the sort." Curiosity bubbled a slight within the god's stomach, but it was easily shoved back down with the stronger sense of simple hatred for all other people besides himself. Nothing against the girl. Loki blinked and looked with bored, half-lidded eyes down at her short form. But even after a full minute, she didn't leave. She just stood there with her hands pulling through her long black hair, staring at Loki as if she was expecting far more from him. After growing more than annoyed at her simple boldness, Loki scoffed. "Well, I said I have not seen your friend; shouldn't you go back to looking for him and bloodying more ear drums?"

But the young girl didn't so much as bat a lash at his annoyed push to make her leave. Instead, it only seemed to spur her to stay. She tilted her head at him and looked deep in thought, if only for a moment. "You're not from around here." She spoke with conviction, a statement full and steady. Loki rolled his emerald orbs.

"Obviously."

"I know almost everyone on this island, even some of the people that come here a lot every year. But I don't recgonize you, mister." She took a step closer to him and squinted, though the man was absolutely sure that would not aid in a memory of him that didn't even exist. With her little hands once more on tilted hips, the little girl was almost plainly blunt with what she so clearly desired to know. Another soft, warm breeze blew about the slim god's hair and the bushes around him as he merely rolled his eyes.

"My name is Loki, child."

"And are you from the mainland?" She started in question, but quickly added, "-Of America, you know, that's what I mean." Good lord, it was painly obvious she simply wasn't going to shut up. Since he was sure that strangling her wasn't in his best interests, Loki decided simply to let himself sit down in a small patch of soft sand and lean himself against a tree. He held a groan when the little girl did the same exact thing, sitting happily beside him. She crossed her small legs and turned at him again; he still hadn't answered the question.

Returning the curious gaze with a flutter of blinks (dammnit; the sun was getting annoying again, rays flickering through the trees above and managing to blind him for a moment), Loki scoffed. "You are in understanding that it's common curtisy to give you name to me. After all, I gave you my own."

She raises a brow, but sighs. Looking like a child whom had been berated by a parent, she holds out a small hand for him to take. "I'm Lilo. Current friend of a super cool alien and totally best hula dancer in my entire school."

Loki finds himself almost amused (almost; key word /almost/) by her forward personality. So to humor her he holds out a pale hand in turn, taking Lilo's and shaking it lightly. After a moment they both pulled away, Lilo moving her hands to play lightly with them in the sand beside her. She pinched the soft material and let it run through her loose fingers.

Silence floated between them for a few moments, and soon Loki understood the reason for it. Ah, she was a clever girl. After taking time to look out to the beach shushing on just behind them (the ocean looked even bluer from the shade, however that could have been), Loki finally cleared his throat and leaned down closer to her ear.

"...If it will stop that stilly look on your face, you might say I am from the 'Mainland' America. In a way." He didn't go any deeper into a bothered explination. Whenever he had to even begin describing the reality Migardians always looked at him strangely. Fury had /so/ lovingly explained that most humans don't believe in such things anymore.

Pish pah. Loki could remember when he was little, and Odin spoke of how he had battled upon Midgard, how the Migardians had looked upon them in worship and awe. He almost found it an atrocity that they showed such little respect for godlike beings compared to their mesely selves anymo-

"So then I guess you really wouldn't know where Stitch is," THe young girl sounded almost forelorn as her eyes swept over the trees around her. It was obvious that she was growing in worry. And, as much as Loki really didn't care to admit that her soft brown eyes peering into the brush didn't affect him in the slightest, he knew it would have been so very much a lie. He shifted uncomfortably in place, unable for some odd reason to keep from wondering how much a simple lost friend affected her.

"...I'm sure he'll turn up soon enough," The dark haired god finaly found himself muttering, leaning his chin on a propping palm. He closed his eyes and let out a soft sigh, though Lilo didn't seem any bit comforted by Loki's casual comfort.

"I know. I mean, he always does, but it's reeeaaally important that he doesn't get lost today." As if to agree with her, the wind whipped up for a moment, making the sand slip out and whirl in the breeze, the trees above bustling left and right. The fluttering rays of sunlight flickered in and out of Loki's face as his eyes rolled off to the side.

He pulled his head back up from his palm. Surely the little girl was just overreacting. "What is so important? This island doesn't seem to be bustling with commotion. On Asg...America, there is much more that one needs to concern themselves over. This seems rather insignificant." Harsh, cold, but the girl didn't even seem a slight taken back from the words.

"We have a /huge/ celebration in a week, and he promised to practice with me!"

"...So?"

"We always practice with eachother. I mean, we do /EVERYTHING/ together. He's my family, you know. We fight and stuff, and sometimes he likes to blow things up and annoy my big sister, but he's kinda like my brother." At this Loki's attention was taken. His eyes looked over to Lilo with a combination of pristine curiosity and simple awe, as if she had just told him something entirely ridiculous. An alien she had said. Her friend was a little blue alien.

"How can you even say he is your family, midga-..er, Lilo. He isn't even related to you." The entire idea seemed childish. After all, she couldn't be any older than what a Midgardian would lable as a teenager. Spouting simple silliness everywhere. "If he is an alien as you so proclaim, shouldn't you be, I do not know, perhaps a slight fearful of him?" _Like Thor should be of Loki. Like he always should have been._

Lilo blinked and genuinely looked thoughtful for a moment, one finger pressing up against her chin. "Afraid? Well, I suppose I was at first. He wanted to make everything get all firey and stuff. He had a lot of badness in him then, but when all that badness was gone, he was awesome." She smiled brightly towards the god for a moment, and suddenly Loki felt the need to turn his own eyes away. Her brown orbs were so full of honesty and simple, utter truth. It was almost a bit much for him to keep a stable gaze into. But Lilo didn't take note; she merely continued on with the rest of her response. "...I mean, why does it matter if someone is related to you? I love him just as much as I do my big sister. He's my best friend you know, and I really trust him a lot."

Loki closed his eyes and opened his mouth to speak, but Lilo quickly inturupts him.

"-Except with paint. He hasn't earned paint-privalleges yet." She looked forward and, after a second of muted silence, she turned and said plainly to Loki, "He tried to paint my sister's car green and red once. I thought it was sorta funny."

It was then that Loki suddenly couldn't help it. The sheer innocence that the small girl spoke with, how she didn't even seemed perturbed by Loki's pessimissm, his ongoing doubt and scrutinty. It actually made the man smile. Alright, she was...interesting. Fairly. And in that soft moment, all Loki could ponder upon were her words. They were not weighed down with painful memories or broken thoughts. Instead she was merely a simple, honest girl, speaking words that Loki never could bring himself to even wonder upon.

Without meaning to, Loki regarded her with a nod. "...you are quite wise, child." _For understanding something I could never bring myself until so very recently_.

Lilo just shrugged. "It's simple to me. I don't know why some people need to make it so confusing all the time. Family is family."

"I suppose that's true," Loki whispered in response, leaving Lilo to push herself up onto her feet. The wind picked up again, making her pat down on her dress to get the small bits of sand from the material. She checked her flip-flops after a moment, then turned and offered a hand for Loki to take. Though it was more in gesture than much, he still took it and pushed himself up as well.

"...Do you know how to say 'family' here?" Lilo asked suddenly. She looked off into the trees as a soft rustle sounded, but turned back to the taller man. Loki shook his head, mostly to appease her. Ah, Migardians and their silly languages. Lilo smiled. "_Ohana._ Ohana means family. Oh, and you know what else, Mr. Loki?" Noticing it was the first time she had used his actual name, Loki merely looked down upon her. She gestured for him to lean down to her, and with a curious blink he did. Lilo giggled and whispered into his ear, "Now you're part of my _Ohana_."

Loki frowned and was about to question the logic of her words before another voice sounded from the beach.

"Lilo!" it was another girl, and from the way Lilo turned and smiled, Loki figured it was a friend. "We found Stitch! He's at the school!"

"That must be Maria. She's new at the dance school. But I guess this means I gotta go." She looked all smiles and joy when her small hand once more was held out to the still confused Loki, in offering for him to take. He so greatly wanted to understand her meaning behind such silliness from before, but soon he decided it wasn't worth it. His pale hand caught her smaller one and they shook. After letting go, Lilo turned and hurried off towards the sound of her friend's voice, but not before calling behind-

"It was nice to meet you Mr. Loki! Come see our celebration sometime next week!" She sounded more joyful than anything when she caught up to her young friend, and the god could barely make out their hands waving as Lilo hollared. "And maybe you'll meet Stitch! You'd like him!"

And then the two girls were gone, hurrying down the stretch of white sand and bright sunlight. They left Loki standing there in the shade, him and his thoughts. Ohana. Was it really that simple? The man looked down at the ground for a while, and when he finally looked back up, he rolled his eyes. Maybe it was. Maybe it was that simple.

The walk back to the hotel was filled with plesant thoughts and a bright, broad smile upon the Asgardian's lips, which only got wider when he saw that Thor was happily waiting for him on the beach.

Yeah; it could be that simple.

_Ohana means family._

And family means nobody is left behind

or forgotten.


End file.
